


New Dreams

by neverbelonely



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M, alternative universe, non-fantasy AU, there may not be magic but there is glitter and we all know that's the most important thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 23:03:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13534404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverbelonely/pseuds/neverbelonely
Summary: Jareth is in a world famous band. Sarah is a photographer hired to document their world tour. Cue a ridiculous, dramatic, utterly eighties, fantastical, musical, road trip adventure of a love story.





	1. Let's Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sarah meets The Goblins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to my first ever Labyrinth fanfiction! I hope you enjoy it and if you have any questions or comments, then please do leave me a review and I will answer as soon as I can.  
> To clarify the setting, this story is set in 1986, Sarah is 24, Jareth is 27, and Toby is a baby because it's an AU and we all need that cuteness (he doesn't appear in this chapter, but he will pop up later on, I promise). It's not too obvious that the story is set in the 80s in this chapter, but I'll definitely be incorporating that into it later on.  
> I will also be mentioning in an Author's Note at the beginning of each chapter what songs I was thinking of when writing, because this story is, naturally, heavily inspired by music.  
> The soundtrack to this chapter is, of course, Let's Dance by David Bowie.

"I think you're a fairy tale. I think you're magical, and brave, and exquisite. And I hope you'll let me be in your story."

― Laini Taylor,  _Strange the Dreamer_

Sarah Williams was singing and dancing. It wasn't the best performance ever to grace the world, but it was only in her kitchen, and she was only singing along to the radio, and there wasn't any audience, except for the breakfast she was making, which wasn't an avid audience. One might say that the way she was waving the knife around was slightly reckless, but Sarah was by now something of a professional at dancing along to the radio, especially to this song which was a favourite of hers, and an accident was unlikely.

She chopped up a banana as her feet, clad in thick wool socks, moved to the beat, and as she placed the banana slices in a bowl of yoghurt and muesli she sang along with a particularly high note which she pulled off almost as well as the original singer.

Wearing quite short pyjama shorts and a pyjama shirt, her dark hair up in a messy bun, she of course looked very stylish as she danced over to the kettle and poured the water for her coffee (which was in her favourite mug on this particular morning, a large white one with the words "BABE WITH THE POWER" emblazoned across it in black).

As the song reached the final chorus, Sarah sang along even louder, completely immersed in the music, until she executed a rather excellent twirl and suddenly found herself facing her housemate Christine, along with a man she didn't know, standing on the staircase opposite her.

Sarah paused in her singing. "Christine, I didn't know you were back from Paris."

Christine, looking half amused, half embarrassed, replied "I didn't know you were back from your parents'."

"My dad's. And yeah, I got back yesterday afternoon, I was probably asleep when you," she cleared her throat awkwardly, "when you two came home."

A light blush appeared on Christine's cheeks as she glanced at the man next to her, "Yes, well, Sarah, this is Jean, a friend from Paris who got the same flight back as me yesterday, Jean, this is my house mate Sarah, who said she wouldn't be back until tomorrow." A little glare accompanied this last comment.

Sarah shrugged, "Dad had a meeting arranged for this morning at the last minute so I thought I'd get out of their hair earlier. Nice to meet you, Jean." She nodded at him and turned down the radio a little before taking her breakfast over to the kitchen table.

He nodded in return, and with a heavy French accent replied, "And you. You like this music, the song is by The Goblins, I think?"

Christine grinned as she walked into the kitchen to make breakfast for her and Jean. "Oh, Sarah doesn't just like them, she loves them. She's practically obsessed."

Sarah rolled her eyes, fiddling with the end of one of her sleeves, "I am not obsessed. I just appreciate the art that is their music."

Christine laughed, "So you don't think their lead singer is, what was it, "heavenly, beautifully, unbelievably handsome"?"

" _Christine!_ "

Her housemate simply grinned at her.

Jean was leaning against the kitchen wall. "Me personally, I cannot help but find his music rather unsophisticated."

Christine whirled round to look at him in horror, shaking her head as if to warn him.

Sarah sat back in her chair, blinking. "What?"

Jean looked confused at Christine, but still went on, "Well, it is not the opera, is it? Perhaps it is, er, catchy, but there is no substance."

Sarah was almost speechless, almost. "That is, that is just..." She waved her spoon angrily at him. "His music makes me feel more than anything in any of your opera houses ever has! You're just a, a-"

"Alright!" Christine interjected, placing a hand on Jean's chest to stop him from making any retort. "Sarah, why don't you go eat your breakfast on the roof?"

Sarah would have objected, but Christine was giving her a Look which told her they would be having Words later, so instead she simply took her breakfast, strode past them to the stairs and up to the little roof garden, where she sat at a small picnic table, glaring off into the distance over the London rooftops.

* * *

Sarah had just finished her breakfast when Christine came out onto the roof and sat down opposite her.

"He just left." She said simply.

"Good." Sarah said, a little moodily. "Forever, I hope."

Christine rolled her eyes but smiled. "Probably. He was fun in the moment, but he has revealed himself to be rather a..."

"Snob?"

Christine sighed. "Yes, I am sorry about that. I knew he had certain opinions but I didn't realise he could be so... Sharp about them."

Sarah reached over and gently squeezed Christine's hand. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you'll be with someone one day who is really great, and who isn't strange, or a snob, or overly dramatic."

Christine laughed a little. "I don't think I can rid myself of my soft spot for the dramatic."

Sarah sat back and shook her head. "Well, each to their own but I don't think dramatic tendencies are very attractive, it always just comes off as immature. And you know the last time you were involved with someone dramatic it didn't end well." She added, pointing at Christine.

Christine pushed her hand away. "It is rude to point. And we weren't involved, exactly, it was..." She trailed off with a frown.

"Yeah, complicated, I know. Sorry I shouldn't have brought it up."

Christine shook her head, smiling again. "It's alright, but you know, I think you're wrong, I think you could fall for someone dramatic."

Sarah scoffed. "Oh yes, how could I resist someone who walks into the room like they're walking onto stage? Who demands the attention of everyone in the room? I don't want to play the love interest to someone else's protagonist, Christine."

Christine smiled, "I don't think you ever could, no, if you fall in love it could only be as someone's equal. They could never be more dramatic than you."

"I am not dramatic!"

"Sarah, do you not know yourself at all? You're one of the most dramatic people I know! And I work in theatre!" Christine laughed beautifully. She did everything beautifully. It really wasn't fair.

Sarah shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, you're talking utter fantasy."

* * *

Later that day, Sarah was walking down the stairs to the kitchen singing another song by The Goblins, when she found Christine waiting at the bottom of the stairs, holding out the phone to her with a grin.

"Someone on the phone for you." She said cheerfully.

 _Please don't let them have heard me singing_ , Sarah thought, taking the phone from Christine with a glare.

"Hello, this is Sarah."

"Hello Sarah, this is Paul Jones, the agent, we met at the awards show after party the other night, I was networking, you were taking pictures? Very good pictures might I add, I saw some of them in  _Fame_  magazine the other day." He sounded amused, he'd definitely heard her singing. She tried not to sound too embarrassed.

"Oh, yes, I remember! Oh, thank you so much, I was really happy with how they turned out." She remembered Paul, he'd been friendly, she hadn't known too many people there, and had been taking pictures of the party for the magazine, having done photoshoots with them before that they had been very happy with. They'd chatted for a while and she'd ended up giving him her card, both for business and in the hopes of making a new friend.

"Glad to hear it! The pictures actually made me think, you'd be perfect for a photoshoot one of my clients has coming up that we've yet to hire anyone for. Your style has just the right mood we're looking for."

Sarah smiled, excited, "Really? That's brilliant, what would it be exactly?"

"Do you know The Goblins? They've got a new album they're just finishing up and we need to do the photoshoot for the album itself and promotional material, I've shown the band your pictures and they think you have the perfect style for it too."

Sarah's heart skipped a beat. The Goblins. They had heard of her. Seen her pictures. They wanted her to take pictures of them. For their album. That would be sold worldwide. Everyone would see her pictures. Everyone. Including The Goblins. Possibly the greatest musicians to ever exist. At least in her opinion. And as far as she was concerned she was right.

Christine, sitting on the kitchen counter watching her, raised her eyebrows. "Sarah?"

"Hello? Are you still there?" came the voice from the other end of the phone.

Sarah quickly snapped back to reality, "Oh, yes, I'm here. I-I... Yes, I'd love that, that would be incredible."

She could hear him grinning. "You're a fan, aren't you?"

She sighed, scratching her wrist absentmindedly, "Okay, yes, I'll admit, I love their music. This is a dream come true."

He laughed, "Excellent, we want someone who's excited by the idea. So, how about, hang on I'll just check the possible dates..." They went over the organisation details, decided on a date and time, and he told her the address of the photography studio, and then they were saying goodbye and hanging up and she was putting the phone down.

She looked over at Christine, who was now sipping a smoothie with a straw and flipping through a magazine.

Christine looked up at her. "You booked a photoshoot? I can't lie, I was hoping he'd called you up to ask you on a date."

"Goblins." was all Sarah could manage.

Christine raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "Your favourite band? What about-", her eyes went wide. "No. You did not. Really? You're going to photograph them, aren't you?"

Sarah nodded, basically in shock. "Yeah, I am, for their next album."

Christine put down her smoothie and gave a shriek of joy, jumping from the counter to engulf Sarah in a hug. "Sarah, that's amazing!"

Sarah hugged her back, a smile growing so wide on her face it hurt, "Christine, I'm going to photograph The Goblins!"

Christine laughed, "Oui, Sarah!" She suddenly gasped, pulling back and holding Sarah at arm's length. "But what will you wear?"

Sarah laughed and then stopped in horror. "Oh god, Christine, what will I wear?"

* * *

"Everything set up, Sarah?" It was Paul, walking over to where she stood with her camera on a stand, facing a large white wall in a photography studio buried in the heart of London.

She pulled her shirt sleeves down (her and Christine had eventually decided on a smart yet casual shirt and trousers combination) over her wrists nervously and smiled at him. "Ready to rock."

"And roll?" he quipped, and she rolled her eyes in a good natured manner. Before either of them could say anything else Kring (she didn't know whether that was a first or last name, or even a nickname, that was just how he had been introduced), the band's manager who Sarah had briefly been introduced to earlier, walked out of a door on the other side of the room along with a few other people, and Sarah knew she was about to meet her favourite band. And that she had to remain completely professional.

Kring, a friendly looking middle-aged man, smiled at Sarah and brought the band over, and began introducing them one by one. As he did so, they each gave Sarah a grin and shook her hand. "Guys, this is Sarah, our photographer for today, Sarah, this is Bob, our drummer", a tall, muscled man with chestnut curls and a strangely comforting smile, "Samuel, who does piano, keyboard, synthesiser and whatever else we ask him to, usually," a smaller, quiet looking man with soft black hair and kind eyes, "Mike, our guitarist" another tall man, this time more lanky, with brown hair and a playful grin, "Tom, our bassist," a slightly shorter but not small man with dark blond hair and a simple smile, "and-" but here Kring stopped, looking at an empty spot at the end of the line up. "Lads, where's Jareth?"

Mike laughed, "Where do you think? Still having his hair done."

"It's a work of art and you know it," came a rich, self assured voice, and they all turned to see a tall man with a shock of platinum blond hair walking into the room, and Sarah suddenly found herself looking into the blue, mismatched eyes of Jareth, lead singer of The Goblins. And he was looking right back into hers.


	2. Novaturient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sarah is hired for a second time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've been waiting for this chapter since I posted the first one, you've probably realised I don't have a regular update schedule. I am determined to see this story through to the end, but be warned it may take its time. Thank you to everyone who read and left comments on the first chapter, it made me really happy to know that people liked the start of the story, and I hoped you like this chapter too! This one, like the first one, is more set up, and then in the next chapter the action should really begin as they should be finally be going on tour!  
> The soundtrack to this chapter is Gorgeous by Taylor Swift.

Novaturient (adjective): A desire to alter your life, the feeling that pushes you to travel.

"Sarah, this is Jareth, our lead singer."

Sarah had to bite down the urge to say "yes, I know". Because who didn't know who he was? She just couldn't quite believe that he was standing right in front of her with those eyes (wow, those eyes, if magic was a colour it would be that kind of blue) and holding out his gloved hand for her to shake.

As she took it and gently shook it, she wondered if she was blushing, because the soft fabric of the glove and the warmth of his hand had just sent this feeling up her arm and it was the kind of feeling that could make you blush.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sarah." he said with a little smile, one corner of his lips lifting up higher up than the other, so it almost looked like a smirk. That smile could charm even Sarah's next door neighbour, a rather mean old lady who banged on the wall every time Sarah tried to watch television at an audible volume. And Sarah wasn't a particularly poetic person, but she could write sonnets about the silkiness of his voice.

"Oh, stop flirting, Jareth." The other band members said in unison, rolling their eyes. Sarah was pretty sure she was blushing now.

This seemed to be a regular joke, as Jareth turned to grin at them as he let go of Sarah's hand. "I'm not flirting."

Sarah turned away to fiddle with her camera, partly still a little bit starstruck, rather in awe of the suggestion of the idea that Jareth King could have been flirting with her, but mostly eager to get to work. Since the first time she'd seen a picture of the band she'd wanted to photograph them. They all had eyes that burned brightly with the love of their music, every facial expression spoke volumes, there was this otherworldly nature to them in general, and from what she'd heard from people who had been to their concerts, when they played their music live it was like magic.

Kring rolled his eyes too. "You're always flirting. Now come on, lads, get in front of the camera."

"Do you like to work with music playing, Sarah?" Paul asked from over by a record player in a corner of the room.

Sarah smiled. "If you have any music that goes with the mood you want for these pictures that would be good."

This prompted the band members to start calling out different band and record titles, and then they started singing snippets of different songs each, debating over which fitted best with their own album. Sarah started taking pictures and decided she was in heaven.

It was when they were taking a break for lunch that it happened. They had ordered pizza, and Sarah was sitting in a chair next to Jareth, thinking about how surreal this all was, and then there was… Well, Sarah wasn't sure what to call it. A moment.

It began when she adjusted the sleeves of her shirt, and Mike asked, "Is that a tattoo on your wrist, Sarah?"

They all turned to look at her, and she looked down at her wrists, her face warming slightly from all the attention. "Oh, yes."

"Can I ask what it is?" Bob asked with his comforting smile. "No worries if it's private, I'm just interested in tattoos myself."

Sarah nibbled on her bottom lip and then decided to be brave, after all, they'd probably be flattered. "Actually, they're your lyrics." She pushed up her sleeves and held out both hands to reveal the words written in elegant black script around each wrist.

She felt Jareth lean closer and then finally had the courage to look at him as he gently took her left wrist in his gloved hand. She had to repress a shiver as he sang the words he saw on her skin.

" _Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here_ …" He picked up her other wrist with his other hand and continued, " _For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great_."

He looked up at her, curiousity in his eyes. "That's from _Power_ , I wrote that one."

"I know." She paused, realising how much of a fan she must look like at that moment. _Well_ , she thought, _I am a fan, aren't I? There's nothing to be embarrassed about in that, Sarah_.

She held his gaze and continued, "It's my favourite song… I really like the lyrics, they've helped me a lot." She felt no shame in saying so, but she still waited for his reaction a little nervously.

"I'm glad." He smiled, a small, genuine smile, looking into her eyes with a simple happiness, and she thought, _I want to photograph this smile and keep it forever_. The little upturn in the corner of his lips, the small crinkle at the corners of his mismatched eyes, it was utter honesty, and it was beautiful.

Then someone coughed, and his trademark grin was back in place, and his gloved hands were no longer on her wrists, and he was up out of his seat and asking "next shot?" and Sarah was getting up to sort out the camera, and later she would wonder if she had imagined the smile, because it seemed far too wonderful to have been real.

Eventually the photo shoot came to an end, and Sarah, unable to stop smiling, said good bye to everyone, her gaze lingering on Jareth a moment longer than the rest, which did not escape his notice. Soon everyone else began to make their exit, until only Jareth and Paul were left in the studio.

"Where did you find her?" Jareth asked as he lounged on a sofa, looking up at the ceiling.

Paul raised an eyebrow. "I told you, she was taking pictures at an awards show after party."

Jareth simply frowned.

"Oh, did you want something more romantic, Sir?" Paul teased.

Jareth opened his mouth to retort, then paused, his fingers began dancing in the air, and he began to nod his head, as if to a beat.

"That," he said, pointing with one finger, "is excellent. May I use it?"

"Will I get writing credit?"

"Naturally."

"It's all yours."

* * *

By the time she next saw anyone from the band, Sarah had almost given up on ever seeing any of them again and was making an attempt not to feel too heartbroken about it. Sometime after the photoshoot, the album had been released and she had received a beautiful vinyl record of it by post. She had lost count of how many times she had listened to it since she had got it, and had decided that it was, without a doubt, their best album yet, and that wasn't just because the picture on the album cover was a picture she had taken. Or because they had all signed it for her.

She refused to admit, even to herself, that her eyes had spent quite some tracing the elegant loops of Jareth's signature.

It was a beautiful sunny day in April, and Sarah was in the kitchen, listening to the album again, and admiring the way her new sequin leggings sparkled in the light as she danced to it, when there was a knock at the door.

It was her stepmother, holding her half-brother in her arms. "Oh, Sarah, thank goodness, you're here, I had plans to come into the city to do some shopping with some friends, your father was supposed to look after Toby but he got called into the office, so I was hoping you could look after him for me."

Sarah suddenly found herself holding the one-year-old and taking a bag from the woman standing in her doorway.

"All the things he needs are in there, I'll be back around five to pick him up, alright?"

"Oh, well I don't know," Sarah attempted to protest. It wasn't that she didn't like Toby, she just felt rather ambushed.

Her stepmother didn't appear to hear her. "Thank you so much! Have a nice time!" And with a kiss to the top of her son's head, she was gone.

Sarah stared at the space where she had been, and then looked down at Toby, who giggled.

She sighed and closed the door, "Well, I suppose we can manage."

There was another knock at the door.

Sarah stared at it until there was another knock. She opened it warily.

The first thing she noticed was Jareth's hair, then the large, rather hairy man in a suit behind him, and then Paul standing next to Jareth.

"Sarah! Lovely to see you, can we come in?" Paul gave her a friendly smile.

Sarah stepped to the side, holding the door open for them as best she could while holding Toby in one arm and possibly suffering from shock. They all came in and she closed the door behind them.

"This is Ludo, one of the band's bodyguards, and you know Jareth of course."

Sarah cleared her throat and attempted to look calm rather than stunned. "Of course. Lovely to meet you Ludo."

The bodyguard gave her a wide smile. "You too!"

Jareth tilted his head at Toby, who giggled again. "And who is this?"

"My half-brother Toby, I'm babysitting." Sarah explained. Toby stared at Jareth while sucking on some of Sarah's hair.

"May I hold him? He seems delightful." She nodded and watched as he careful took Toby in his arms and grinned at him. Her brother seemed to immediately decide he liked Jareth, attempting to grab some of his pale blonde hair with his little fingers as Jareth watched him in fond amusement.

Paul seemed just as bemused by this as Sarah was, but didn't comment on it, instead he said "To the matter at hand, we have some news for you, why don't we sit down and have some tea? I'll make it."

Which is how Sarah found herself sitting at her kitchen table next to Jareth King, who was feeding Toby some baby food, and opposite Paul and Ludo, who was watching Toby with a happy smile.

She sipped her tea, wondering how everything had quickly become so surreal again.

"The thing is," Paul said, "the company that usually does our tour photography has suddenly said they can't do it anymore."

Sarah's heart skipped a beat. "Oh?"

Paul nodded. "It's complicated and messy and not really worth getting into, the important thing is we were hoping you could step in." If Sarah had been standing up, she would have fallen down, but Paul kept talking as if he hadn't just changed her whole world. "We thought you could come along with us, taking pictures back stage as well as during the shows, it would give the pictures a more personal touch, you know? We can go over your pay when we work out a contract, and we'd pay for the travel and hotels of course, and any equipment you'd need, although I suppose you'd like to bring your own camera?"

It took a moment for Sarah to work out how to make words come out of her mouth. "Yes, I can bring my own camera."

Jareth looked at her. "Is that a 'yes'? You're coming with us?"

She looked at him, wondering whether she was imagining the hopefulness in his tone. It occurred to her that he didn't need to be here, Paul could have delivered this news by himself. And yet here he was. The world-famous lead singer of The Goblins, sitting in her kitchen and feeding her baby brother mashed carrot. Christine was going to be furious that she had missed this.

Sarah smiled the smile of a girl whose dreams had just come true.

"Of course, how could I refuse?"


	3. Into The Labyrinth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which tour begins and Sarah has to deal with certain distractions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what it must be like to be one of those writers that updates their story every week. Thank you to those of you who are still reading and enjoying the story, I appreciate every comment, kudos, bookmark and subscription! You can follow my writing blog on tumblr at quiddityofstars, where I post shorter stories and fulfil prompts and answer questions.  
> The soundtrack to this chapter is Run Away With Me by Carly Rae Jepsen.

**Chapter Three: Into the Labyrinth**

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”

– J.K. Rowling, _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_

“I’ve never seen anything so…” Sarah was at a lost for words, looking out at the empty London stadium from where she sat in the seats opposite the stage, right at the back. The doors would open soon and the audience would start pouring in, filling all of these seats in anticipation of the opening night of the tour. A few members of the stage crew were putting the finishing touches to the stage, and they looked so small amongst it all from back where she sat.

“I know.” Said Paul, sitting next to her. “Just wait until you see the way the band plays, even from all the way back here you can feel the music. And it never gets old. I get shivers every time.”

Sarah shivered a little herself in excitement, lifting her camera to get a shot of how everything looked before everyone arrived. The sun was on the verge of beginning to set, and the whole place felt full of the energy of anticipation.

“There you are.” Kring approached them. “You know the doors are about to open right? What are doing all the way back here?”

Paul smiled. “Just soaking up the atmosphere.”

“Well, anyway, you ought to come backstage now, the guys have finished getting ready so Sarah, you could come and take some pictures?”

Sarah felt another thrill of excitement run through her as she stood up. “Yeah, of course.”

She hadn’t seen the whole band since the photoshoot and hadn’t seen Jareth since that strange morning in her kitchen. He’d seemed strangely reluctant to leave after they’d organised all the details for her being the tour photographer, and she told herself it was because he’d got on so well with Toby.

As if it could be because of her.

Not that she wanted it to be.

They walked through the stadium’s maze of corridors to backstage and to the band’s dressing room, where they were lounging around on sofas, drinking tea as they waited to go on stage.

It wasn’t exactly what she expected from rock stars, but Paul had told her earlier they always drank hot drinks before the show, it was good for their voices apparently, and if they wanted alcohol they were under strict instructions to wait until after the show. Apparently, Jareth sometimes even had hot chocolate, but she had been told to take this secret to her grave and definitely never let Jareth know that Paul had told her this.

“Sarah!” They all chorused, apparently delighted to see her, and she went around for handshakes with everyone, until she came across Jareth, who did give her a handshake, but also a wink and a rather charming smile. Which she was not affected by. At all.

“Hello Sarah, how is Toby?”

“Oh, he’s very well.” She smiled, surprised by the question.

“You’re supposed to ask her how she is, idiot, who taught you manners?” Mike the guitarist asked with a grin.

Jareth rolled his eyes with a grin. “I don’t need to ask how Sarah is, I can see that she is very well.” He turned his eyes to her and winked again.

Sarah felt her face grow warm. “I’m excited to see you all perform tonight, is it alright if I take some casual pictures?” They all nodded their consent and she proceeded to take some pictures of them while they talked.

“I think you’ll really love the show, Sarah.” Bob the drummer smiled. “It’s a lot of fun to perform at least, and sound check went well earlier.”

“Well, I know I’m going to be excellent.” Jareth grinned and the others rolled their eyes. Sarah rolled hers too, but found herself smiling. It was a kind of endearing arrogance, you could tell he knew how he sounded.

“I like your jacket,” she commented as she took a picture of him. It really was a gorgeous jacket, dark blue with golden details that made it shimmer under the light, like the night sky.

His grin softened and he looked up at her. “Thank you, it’s one of my favourites.”

Sarah looked back at him for a moment before they were interrupted by a curious comment from Mike. “Sarah, I’ve been wondering about your accent.”

She chuckled a little to herself, most people wondered about her accent and she was surprised it hadn’t come up yet. She was about to reply when Jareth chimed in with, “Ah yes, I have noticed that it seems to be a curious and yet melodious mix of American and English.”

Sarah stuttered for a moment, her face warming again, before she managed to get out a calm enough answer. “Well, I lived in Boston until I was ten, then my parents divorced so my dad decided to move us over here. Then he met my stepmom and they had a kid just over a year ago.”

Jareth smiled, “Sweet little Toby.”

She nodded.

Samuel chuckled. “Why am I not surprised you’ve already met her baby brother?”

Thomas smiled. “I think Jareth is going to be the first of us to have a kid, he just loves babies.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Sarah chuckled too and glanced at Jareth, surprised to find herself smiling quite softly, and surprised to see his cheeks turning a light pink.

She took a deep breath and distracted herself with checking her camera. She had to admit that the fact that Jareth was so good around children, and wanted to have his own someday, was strangely attractive, but she couldn’t let herself go down that road. At the very least, this was a professional relationship, at the most it would still be nothing more than a friendship. That was what she had to tell herself. _It can’t be anything more_ , was becoming her new mantra. He couldn’t be interested in her, he just liked to flirt, and if she let anything happen she’d probably only get hurt. She knew that from experience.

* * *

One by one the band came out on stage to the roaring cheers of the crowd. Sarah stood near the front, her camera ready in her hands, and sighed at herself when Jareth strutted on stage and her heart practically somersaulted. With a quick, “Good evening London!” and an introduction for each member of the band, they were off, launching into the first song with an energy that was contagious. Sarah almost forgot to take pictures, she was so entranced with the performance and the music.

When she managed to remind herself why she was there a minute or so into the first song, Sarah found herself noticing the way Jareth occasionally bit his lower lip as he grinned. She managed to capture it on camera once or twice, before she told herself to stop focusing on his lips.

Their performance was a mixture of old and new songs, upbeat and slow, but no matter which song it was, they were clearly in control of the stage and clearly enjoying themselves. Sarah’s gaze kept getting drawn back to Jareth, his jacket sparkling under the lights, his eyes sparkling with his obvious love of performing. The crowd around her was singing, in some cases almost screaming, along with every word and Sarah ended up joining them more often than not.

* * *

 Paul found her at the end of the show, after the band had made their grand exit, and helped her navigate through the crowd of fans sad to see the show over. Sarah had to admit she was rather sad herself and was thankful she still had the other shows to see. She didn’t think she’d be satisfied with only seeing this show once.

There were crowds of people backstage too, although a little more organised this time, and Sarah almost stumbled as she made her way through them. An arm appeared from somewhere and as she took it to support her she looked up to see Jareth grinning at her. He had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, there was a towel over one of his shoulders and a bottle of water in his free hand. He was a little sweaty and still panting slightly from being on stage.

Sarah swallowed. “Thanks.” His arm felt strong under her hand and she thought it was probably her cheeks that were pink this time.

“You’re welcome.” He winked. “What did you think of the show?” He took a sip of water and Sarah couldn’t answer for a moment as she watched him swallow.

She cleared her throat, and then felt herself smiling as she talked. “It was amazing! Honestly I’ve never seen anything so brilliant. Your music is even better live.”

This seemed to please him as his grin grew. “I’m very honoured you think so.”

She heard Paul chuckle behind her and remembered they weren’t alone. She gave Jareth a rather flustered smile and then they were all ushered to the hotel for the night.

* * *

After that, tour took off like a whirlwind. If this was only the UK part of it, Sarah wasn’t sure how she’d deal with it when they started traveling to the rest of Europe, Asia, Australia and America. Tour turned out to be exhausting enough without the added exhaustion of time difference and jet lag, and she wasn’t even the one performing. On the other hand, she’d never felt so alive and full on energy. Seeing the band performing concert after concert, traveling all over the country, getting to take pictures of new, exciting adventures, was quite probably the best experience of her life, and if she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow every night, or every very early morning, then it was most certainly worth it.


End file.
